Q&A with Ginny May, RC Director of Human Resources

This is the second in a series of the people who make Rochester College what it is. These employees serve behind the scenes, but are crucial to the operations of the college.

By Holly LingenfelterShield Staff

Ginny May is the Director of Human Resources at Rochester College and has held the position for one year and three months. This is her fourth position here at Rochester College. Ginny May went to school at Rochester College and was a Student Worker in Admissions. She graduated and left RC, and came back as a Dorm Supervisor. She then became the Secretary to the Dean of Students, and then was the Admin to the President.

Q: Describe what you do on a typical day.

A: “Answering emails. I love it when employees need me, when somebody needs me to fix their timesheet, or they have a question about health insurance. So if I can see employees and help them solve problems, that’s what I like, and that happens at least once a day. A typical day varies from month to month, but I would be working with faculty, and adjunct contracts, and obviously benefits, and just a bunch of stuff, and meeting with people. But just basically here for employees, that’s my job.”

Q: What brought you to RC and why do you choose to work here?

A: “The Lord. It was always God’s plan. I had a really good position at Oakland University, but they called again to see if I would be interested in coming back and you just learn to listen to God and what he wants for your life. This place has always been part of God’s plan in my life, when you look back in retrospect you can just see the whole plan. There’s just so many things in my life that would not be here if it weren’t for Rochester College, including my daughter. I would not have my daughter. We adopted my daughter, and long story short we went through Christian Homes of Abilene in Texas, and when I was working for Milton Fletcher, the president at the time I was his admin, his best friend was chairman of the board at the agency and he put me in touch with him and that’s how we got our daughter. And that never would have happened had I not been here and worked for Milton Fletcher. So little things like that throughout my life, I just know, and this place is really special, I met my husband here and I was engaged across campus, I had my first kiss with him in front of AG. Just really important life long friendships that we still have from people here, and it’s just a good place.”

Q: What’s the easiest and hardest part of your job? Why?

A: “The easiest parts of my job are doing the payroll. I like doing contracts. The most difficult I would say are when there are employee issues, if there’s any problems and difficulties and handling those.”

Q: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

A: “Working with wonderful people. I wish I had more contact with the students because I just love college aged kids, but I don’t have a lot of contact with the students, but the people I do have contact with are always important.”

Q: What do you do outside your job to stay sane, relieve stress, etc.? Or what are your hobbies?

A: “I read. I have a Kindle so I read a lot, and my husband owns a Harley, and we ride the Harley a lot when weather is nice.” “My daughter who is 27 now, just recently bought a house, so I’ve kind of been helping her decorate and move in, and that keeps us busy.” “Of course church stuff, and anything that needs done at church I try and help out there. I’m the church treasurer business manager so that keeps me busy. I attend Lake Orion Church of Christ.”

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: “I moved here from Pennsylvania when I was a junior in high school, and went to Rochester High School.” She lived in Rochester Hills for high school and college, and then moved to Oxford and has been there ever since.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do in the Rochester area or in Michigan?

A: “I love going up to Mackinac Island, the Petoskey area up in there. Love Frankenmuth, I try to go to Frankenmuth at least once a year.” “I like to walk, we walk quite a bit through our neighborhood, and take the dog out. We lead a very simple life.”

Q: What is your most prized possession?

A: “That would be my husband and daughter, my family.”

Q: What is your most embarrassing moment?

A: "I have restless leg syndrome and so I have to take medication to help put me to sleep at night so that my legs don’t take off in every direction. This medication of course makes you really sleep, but it also makes you not remember things like if you’re awake and you’re on it, you don’t remember the next day. I was going through a really difficult time, just a lot on my mind a few years ago, and woke up in the middle of the night, could not go back to sleep. So I turned on the TV and there was an infomercial for skinny jeans ‘buy these jeans and they’ll make you look skinny’ and I thought well I gotta have me some of them. So I ordered them and got on the phone and called the 800 number and gave them my charge card and low and behold you could get a second pair for half price, well of course, give me another pair. Well then, since you got both pairs, you could also get three magazine subscriptions for a year, ‘so which magazines would you like?’ So I picked out three magazines and then went back to bed, and about a week later the jeans arrived, and my husband said ‘what are these?’ They didn’t fit me, they weren’t anything I would ever had bought, and I didn’t remember ordering them. Then the magazines started to come, and then I remembered ‘Oh I think I ordered them online in the middle of the night. And so I get teased about that all the time, even years later.”

Q: What is the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?

A: “I would have to say, and just being brutally honest, it was probably not being able to have children. From going through that, and this was 30 years ago, going through that process and trying to have a child and coming to the realization that that’s not what God wants for you. And then being blessed with my daughter in knowing that that’s what God wanted for me. But it took a long time to get there. But that was probably the biggest hurdle in my life.”

Q: Who was your biggest influence?

A: “The Lord. Also, Garth Pleasant’s son-in-law, Randy Spec, I used to work for him at Oakland Christian School before I went to Oakland University, and he had a huge influence in my life as far as his leadership abilities and his belief in me, and his confidence in me. He’s just a really good person. And my dad is my hero, and my grandmother.”